In an op-ed featured on Mongabay, the Executive Directors of the Rainforest Foundations of the United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom emphasize the essential role of Indigenous peoples in addressing the climate crisis. They urge the global elite to not only acknowledge this vital role but also to provide financial support.
Guyana has added almost all its forests to the carbon market, signing a $750 million carbon credit deal with petroleum company Hess Corporation, of which 15% will go to Indigenous communities. However, climate experts and Indigenous leaders are questioning the scheme’s accuracy in measuring carbon emissions and whether communities were properly consulted.
As the year comes to a close we’re looking back at all of the amazing things we’ve accomplished in 2022, together! Check out our Year in Review.
Global leaders and climate activists convened in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-18 for the United Nations’ Conference of Parties (COP27), the world’s preeminent climate summit.
Team members from Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS) helped convene a meeting of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC)—the world’s largest indigenous peoples’ coalition— in Geneva, Switzerland.
Rainforest Foundation US has begun an unprecedented program of direct finance forest defense, wherein indigenous communities are financially rewarded for successfully protecting their territories against deforestation. In Puerto Alegre, on the Amazon River in Northern Peru, community members speak about the tremendous vulnerabilities confronting them.
Challenges have prevented funding from going directly to indigenous peoples who are key to combating the climate crisis. Rainforest Foundations outline key steps to ensuring climate and biodiversity funding gets to the frontlines.
Indigenous peoples and local communities launch the Mesoamerican Territorial Fund, a regional financial mechanism, to address inequity in climate finance.
A government grant awarded to RFUS and the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests will strengthen the Alliance’s governance structure, its access to finance, and its women and youth programs.
The Amazon Emergency Fund (AEF) received a $2 million donation from the French Government to deliver COVID-19 relief to indigenous communities.
On June 21st, major international artists will join in solidarity with indigenous peoples for a livestream concert to raise awareness and support for indigenous forest guardians under extreme threat from the coronavirus.
On June 21st, major international artists will join in solidarity with indigenous peoples for a livestream concert to raise awareness and support for indigenous forest guardians under extreme threat from the coronavirus.
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Didier Devers
Chief of Party – USAID Guatemala
gro.y1714084538nffr@1714084538sreve1714084538dd1714084538
Didier has been coordinating the USAID-funded B’atz project since joining Rainforest Foundation US in April 2022. He holds a Master’s in Applied Anthropology and a Bachelor’s in Geography. Before joining the organization, Didier worked for 12 years in Central and South America on issues of transparency, legality, governance, and managing stakeholders’ processes in the environmental sector. Prior to that he worked on similar issues in Central Africa. He speaks French, Spanish, and English, and is based in Guatemala.
